


Frappes and Family

by cestlavieminako



Category: HiGH&LOW: the Story of S.W.O.R.D. (TV)
Genre: I've wanted to do this for a while but this is just a snippet, Other, because I am predictable I guess, coffeehouse AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26312749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cestlavieminako/pseuds/cestlavieminako
Summary: Perhaps it wasn't the biggest, or the fanciest, coffeehouse out there, but the locals knew that the Nameless Street Cafe was the place to go for the best coffee in the city, served by the kindest young man they'd ever met.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23
Collections: High and Low Shipping Week





	Frappes and Family

**Author's Note:**

> Day 7--free theme! And I did work cats in there, too, briefly. 
> 
> I've had this idea floating around for some time as well, time to write one snippet and never continue it, probably.

Smokey flicked the shop's lights on, taking a moment to simply enjoy the moment of quiet before his workday would begin.

He needed to get the espresso machine warmed up, and brew the morning coffee. Set the timer for when the morning coffee would expire and a new batch would need to be brewed to take its place. Get the creamer out, prep the whipped cream, fill the sink so he would be ready for the inevitable pile of dishes that would need to be cleaned throughout the day. Make sure the syrups were full and ready to go. Get the chairs off the tables, and turn on the music. He had to update the chalkboard menu with the specials, that he always put right outside the door.

Then he’d go back upstairs, to make sure no one had slept through their alarms. Takeshi would be up first, getting ready to head to his own job. He would be heading out the door when Smokey was opening the shop up for the day. Lala, Pi, and Yu would need to be up, dressed, and fed before they were walked to the bus stop across the street.

As always, Smokey couldn’t help but wonder how Shion was. Sure, there were always monthly packages, usually with a short, vague letter, along with money and a few things for each of them. There were never return addresses on the packages, and Smokey always prayed that Shion was all right. The eldest of them, Shion had ventured out to find his true calling, and since Smokey hadn’t laid eyes on him in nearly a year and a half, he worried that whatever employment Shion had was not completely honest, if the money he sent was any indication. But there were bills to pay and mouths to feed, so he couldn’t exactly refuse it. 

The coffeeshop wasn’t exactly Smokey’s dream, but it had been in his family for as long as he could remember. When his parents had been killed in a car crash, it had been revealed that the shop was now his. And that included the shop’s rent, which included the small apartment about the shop, where they all lived in rather tight quarters. 

Things were tight, and they weren’t well-off, not by a longshot, but they were together, and they were happy. Smokey adored his little siblings, and Takeshi…well, he was a bit cranky now that he was getting older, but he was a good kid (not that Smokey would ever call him a kid to his face, lest he wind up ignored for a week or more). And if he came home from work and saw a line in the shop, or saw that the dishes needed cleaning, he had no problem pushing his sleeves up and putting on an apron to help out. That alone was a godsend, since he was the only one old enough to work in the shop.

Morning prep was coming along fine, when Smokey heard the sounds of footsteps thundering down the back stairs, and he saw Takeshi and his youngest siblings rushing by the side window, waving to him as they made their way to the bus stop, and then Takeshi made his way up the road toward his own job.

Smokey took a moment to get all of the chairs down and situated around their respective tables, before sitting down to write the day’s specials on the chalkboard, keeping an eye on the bus stop as he did so. He saw the bus come just a few minutes later, and his siblings climbed on board, and they were on their way to school. 

He always breathed a bit easier at that point. There were so many bad elements in the town, and Smokey wanted to protect his family from them. But there were also so many kind people, people that he’d known all his life, or people he’d simply met as they’d come into the coffeeshop, and kept coming back. 

Like the gentleman who Smokey could see standing out on the sidewalk, even though there was still another 15 minutes before he opened for the day. This man came in every day, without fail, and had tried just about everything on the menu at least once. As of late, he seemed content with lattes, and if there weren’t other customers waiting behind him, he would ask Smokey for latte art of a cat. Smokey wasn’t the best latte artist, not by a longshot, but he felt that he was improving just a bit, thanks to this man’s whimsical choices. Smokey had no idea what he did; he was always very well dressed, but a bit softspoken, never chatting to pass the time, or gossiping like some of the housewives did. 

But he was a loyal customer, always polite, and Smokey always made sure to greet him—like today, as the clock slowly ticked to opening time, and he pulled the chalkboard outside, and the gentleman held the door open for Smokey, seeing him struggle a bit.

Smokey thanked him, setting up the board, noticing the gentleman studying the specials for just a moment, even though Smokey was fairly certain that once he was inside, he would hear an order for the gentleman’s usual latte.

And he did. But this time, when asked about latte art, the gentleman seemed to be pondering for a moment, before a slow smile crossed his lips.

“Maybe not a cat today. How about your phone number instead?”

Smokey nearly dropped the mug on the floor.


End file.
